LPCO Convention Keynote Speaker Arvin Vohra is the Vice Chair of the Libertarian National Committee. He has run for office as a Libertarian several times at both the state and national level. Vohra’s main campaign themes have been eliminating the federal income tax, eliminating the Department of Education, ending the drug war, repealing “gun free” school zone laws, and cutting military spending by at least 60 percent.

Vohra is the founder of the Vohra Method, a private educational service. He is also the author of several books, including Why Hillary Lost.

Austin Petersen is a former candidate for the Libertarian Party’s 2016 nomination for President of the United States, taking second place in a crowded primary behind Governor Gary Johnson, and ahead of cyber security maverick, John McAfee. Petersen earned many high profile endorsements in his run for the White House, including that of Mary Matalin, Erick Erickson, and Leon Wolf of RedState.com. Austin Petersen is the owner and chief executive of Stonegait LLC. He is also the honorary Chairman of the Stonegait Institute, LokiPAC and Stonegait PAC, three non-profits dedicated to libertarian advocacy, as well as funding candidates and campaigns dedicated to the cause. Petersen has turned The Libertarian Republic into a powerful online news source for the public, with an average of 1.5 million unique visits monthly. As a publisher and professional pundit, Petersen grew The Freedom Report podcast into a top audio news source, with an average of 1.5 million monthly downloads. As a creative content producer, business executive, and successful political organizer, Stonegait’s CEO has a lifetime of activism ahead, with decades of professional experience in a wide variety of industries.

Nebraska State Senator Laura Ebke is a lifelong Nebraskan, elected to the officially non-partisan Nebraska Unicameral in 2014 for a four year term. Before changing her party registration to Libertarian in late May of 2016, she had served as one of the state leaders of the Ron Paul effort in 2008 and 2012, and was the state chair and a founding member of the Republican Liberty Caucus of Nebraska from 2008-2015. Her focus on liberty in Nebraska led her to be a primary co-sponsor, and in-committee driver, of Nebraska’s ban on civil forfeiture in 2016. She was elected chair of the Judiciary Committee for the 105th Legislature in January, a position she will hold through 2018. She will be up for re-election in the fall of 2018. Senator Ebke is married, and has three children.

A 2016 Libertarian Presidential Candidate, Steve Kerbel is dedicated to the advancement of the cause of Liberty in the United States. Kerbel spent 20 years at the helm of Multi State Insurance corporations, created hundreds of jobs and produced over $1 billion of insurance premiums over his career. Kerbel wrote the 2014 book Take Everyman Down as an eye-opening piece showing who is truly responsible for the condition of our country. He remains active in the pursuit of liberty and the promotion of third party growth with his project entitled “Truth in Polling”, a nonprofit which was endorsed by the Libertarian National Committee late in 2016. Kerbel plans to continue creating and supporting ballot initiatives that promote liberty, and he may run for public office again.

Matthew Hess was the 2016 Libertarian candidate for the Colorado House of Representatives and the 2014 Libertarian candidate for Colorado Governor. In 2012, he ran for Douglas County Commissioner. Hess describes his political philosophy as follows: “Spreading the message of freedom and liberty in Colorado. Reversing the gun control legislation, cutting taxes, and getting government out of the way of businesses.”

Hess is a systems administrator by trade, working in a variety of industries and capacities. He is also a recipient of the Presidential Volunteer Service Award.

The 2017 Libertarian Party of Colorado State Convention takes place March 24-26, 2017 at the Westin Hotel in Westminster Colorado, the home city of Party co-founder, the late David Nolan, and the birthplace of the Libertarian Party. Our line-up of speakers include Laura Ebke, Austin Petersen, Arvin Vohra, Steve Kerbel, Apollo Pazzel, David K. Williams, Ron Gowins, Sarah Stewart,Corey Fauconier, Caryn Ann Harlos and MORE, including a panel discussion on alternative voting methods such as Approval Voting and Ranked Choice Voting.

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If you would like more information about this topic or for a Press pass, please contact Caryn Ann Harlos at 561.523.2250 or email at CommunicationsDirector@LPColorado.org.